Tennis Wednesday: Abrams picks two Atlanta 2nd Round matches – Evans vs. Albot and Isner vs. Opelka

BB&T Atlanta Open

Atlanta, GA

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Men’s Second Round

Dan Evans over Radu Albot

When Albot beat Evans in the finals of Delray Beach I was genuinely surprised, as I didn’t think, at the time, that Albot was that good. Subsequently his match record convinced me that he was. But now, I think Evans, a Brit, is going to get his revenge. I like the way Evans plays and competes, and Albot’s game is pretty darn straightforward, as he does nothing particularly brilliantly, but everything well. As he’s only 5’9”, you can’t expect Albot to serve Evans off the court, and he won’t. Evans will win this close one.

John Isner over Reilly Opelka

You won’t need to be past second grade to count the number of shots per rally in this match between two giant Americans (6’10” and 7’, respectively) with giant serves. There will be a lot of bombs and aces, maybe some returns, a couple of big forehands, maybe some sliced and blocked backhands, and ultimately, we’ll see Isner get revenge for his two 2019 losses to his compatriot. I expect to see Isner, playing back where he went to college, raise his arms in triumph at the end.